Silicon Valley News Notes

Dando: Staying Put at Chamber?

Maybe job security is enough reason for Pat Dando's rumored decision to not make a run for the county Board of Supervisors. After much waffling, word on the street this week is that Dando, the Chamber CEO, has told board members she is not going to run after all. With a few other faces in that District 1 race, including former San Jose Councilman Forrest Williams, there's no guarantee that she will get the gig. Dando, San Jose's former vice mayor, was running from meeting to meeting Tuesday and could not confirm this. However, folks have been expecting her to make an announcement one way or the other soon. Dando had told Metro in April that she was "seriously considering" a run for the District 1 seat, which is now held by Don Gage, who is termed out next year. At the time, Dando said she would talk it over with her family before making an official decision. Maybe her family convinced her that she's lucky to have a job she can count on.

Silicon Valley Community News: The Ax Falls Again

The downsizing continues at Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, as the company confirms it is laying off four people this week. Executive editor Dale Bryant chalked the move up to the economy, saying SVCN is cutting back for the same reason everyone in the industry is laying off people. Bryant put an optimistic spin on the news. "I think we will still be able to continue doing what we are doing," she said. "Everyone will work harder. But in an economy like this, we have to take some blows." On Tuesday, another blow struck, with the announcement that SVCN is discontinuing its Weekender publications in Los Gatos and West San Jose. SVCN publishes 11 weekly newspapers in Santa Clara County, including the Willow Glen Resident, Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Sunnyvale Sun and Cupertino Courier. The company, once part of the locally owned Metro Newspapers group, became a separate company in 2003, under the ownership of former Metro publisher David Cohen. It was purchased by Knight-Ridder in 2005. The following year, following a complex series of purchases and swaps among the nation's biggest newspaper chains, it became part of Dean Singleton's MediaNews empire. Bryant declined to confirm a report that Michael Cronk, editor of the Sun and the Courier, would get the ax this week. She said she isn't sure how many positions have been eliminated in the past year, and she also wouldn't say how much money the recent cuts will save the company. In December, longtime local newspaperman Cohen was laid off as the publisher and CEO of the company.